On Mar. 25, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced an update in the telework policy for state employees, requiring individuals working for the state government to spend 50% of their workdays in person, with an exception for individuals who live more than 75 miles away from their primary office location.
This switch comes after the long-lasting COVID guidelines that allowed employees to work from home. The official Minnesota state government website states that the regulation change is due to a renewed effort to boost “economic vitality” and “foot traffic,” supporting local businesses in the office districts.
“COVID is basically is so little of a threat now. It doesn’t make sense that people are still working from home unless they still need to, but I think if you’re not directly impacted by COVID or by anything else, then there’s no point in just staying home. Before COVID, it was the norm to go into work,” junior Hazel McCarthy said.
The press release also highlighted increased collaboration and work culture as additional reasons for the switch. “This approach balances the flexibility of telework with the workplace advantages of being in office. Having more state employees in the office means that collaboration can happen more quickly and state agencies can build strong organizational cultures more easily,” Gov. Walz said on the Minnesota state government website.
However, this change could reduce some students’ time with their parents or limit their availability with an increased commute.
According to the state government website, around 60% of state employees consistently work in person. This policy is projected to affect around 40%, or 14,000, workers.
In response to the announcement, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees organized protests Mar. 29 and 30 in front of the Governor’s residence, garnering around 500 participants.
The protest opposed reverting from pandemic-imposed restrictions to stricter in-office guidelines. Many workers cited how the requirement would change their family responsibilities. They mentioned how much of their current work set-ups would require restructuring to accommodate the increased number of in-office employees.
“Both of my parents work from home, and I feel like it’s a little harder to [commute] because you need to make up more time to go to work and come back, and it’s harder to coordinate with the family,” junior Ethan He said.
This change is expected to officially go into effect on June 1.

Source for infographic: https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2024/whos-working-from-home-in-minnesota